


Collaborations

by Niallspecs



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Coming Out, Liam Payne & Louis Tomlinson Friendship, M/M, Minor Angst, Niall Horan & Harry Styles Friendship, YouTuber Harry, YouTuber Liam, YouTuber Niall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 20:52:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7453567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niallspecs/pseuds/Niallspecs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall starts a YouTube channel to teach people how to play guitar, Liam's going through personal struggles... and Harry, well he just likes to bake but he's really bad at it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Collaborations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Narryornarry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narryornarry/gifts).



> This took wayyyyy longer than it should have to finish so sorry to Narryornarry for having to wait so long! 
> 
> FYI I'm not that well versed in the world of YouTubers and Youtubing so don't know fully how it works... probably not like this but hey, we gave it a go! Also I had absolutely no idea how to end this so.. I'm not a hundred percent happy with it no matter how I much I rewrite it! 
> 
> Thank you soooo much to the wonderful From for helping me get started and for all the wonderful advice you gave me along the way, couldn't ask for a better beta! 
> 
> This is the first fic I've ever managed to finish! Hope you like!

“Harry I feel stupid…”

“Don’t feel stupid, just talk naturally, introduce yourself, say what you’re about.” 

“I can’t do it with you looking at me like that!” 

Harry’s sitting on a stool behind the camera, his head in his hand, staring intently at Niall. “Why not?” 

“It’s off-putting.” Niall’s fidgeting in his seat on the bed in the middle of his bedroom trying to avoid Harry’s intense gaze. He’s feeling his cheeks redden the more he thinks about what he’s about to do. Safe to say, he’s nervous. 

“Well how would you like me to look at you?” Harry asks, making faces back at Niall. 

“I don’t want you to look at me at all!” 

Harry turns in his chair so he’s facing the wall. “Better?”

“Well now you just look like an idiot.” 

Harry huffs, “look how about I go home? You can call me back when you need help editing yeah?”

Niall breathes a sigh of relief “yes please that would be much better, cheers.” He was glad Harry suggested it so Niall didn’t have to. 

Harry gets up, taking the stool back out to kitchen where he found it, he pops his head back round the door to Niall’s bedroom one last time “good luck and remember, just be yourself!”

“Go home Harry!”

Finally Niall is left alone in his sparse bedroom, bar the posters littering his white walls ranging from Ed Sheeran to The Eagles to Frank Sinatra. Niall thought his room would be a better place to record because it feels more personal and homely than his living room. He prefers his bedroom, it’s the only place he’s managed to decorate slightly since moving in last month. His first real place of his own. 

Niall waits until he hears the door to his flat shut before he presses record on the camera. Harry focused it all up for him and got the lighting right for him. He also kindly lent Niall his old camera until Niall could save up the money to buy his own soon. 

Harry knows more about this than Niall. He’s had his channel for just two years and already has over a million subscribers. He knows about lighting and the stuff that goes way over Niall’s head. Turns out it’s a lot more than just sitting in front of your iPhone and recording some music. 

Niall turns to the window and sees the sun starting to set, he wants to try and record before it goes down completely because the lamp in his room isn’t very bright. 

Niall cracks his neck and relaxes his shoulders, taking a deep breath before starting…

“Hi I’m Niall and welcome to my YouTube channel AcousticHoran.”

***

“You couldn’t think of a more exciting hello than that?” Harry asks two hours later, apparently he was just sitting in his car waiting for Niall to call him back. He seems more excited and eager than Niall. 

“You said be yourself, I’m being myself!” 

“Okay okay don’t bite my head off.” Harry’s sat in front of Niall’s laptop, clipping the video, adjusting the audio levels and adding cool graphics. Niall’s barely keeping up, just thankful he has Harry here to make this look good. 

“Does it really need that graphic thing there while I'm playing guitar?”

“Yeah but if you want to teach people the chords, I think a graphic showing the chord should appear on screen. It’s cool and exciting.”

“Whatever you think is best, Haz.” 

After another hour of playing around with the video, Harry stressing over the fact there’s a shadow across Niall’s face - ‘HOW DID YOU FUCK UP MY LIGHTING??’ - the video is finally ready to go. 

And with a few clicks, it’s posted. 

“What now?”

“Now we wait for the viewers to come flooding in!” Harry says, maybe a bit more optimistic than Niall is. 

Honestly he doesn’t think he’ll get much attention. There are so many youtube channels already that teach you how to play guitar, what makes him so different?

“The difference is you’re cute, funny and interesting, and people will flock to that,” Harry told him two weeks ago when Niall originally had the idea of starting a channel after way too many pints.  
Harry definitely talked him into it when Niall first moved over from Mullingar and with absolutely no plans of what he wanted to do with his life. Niall blushed at the idea of people actually thinking he was cute, and he’d never really considered himself funny before but Harry was so insistent and really boosted Niall’s confidence. 

***

It’s three days later and Niall’s at his actual day job, the only thing paying the bills for his flat in London whilst he ‘tries’ to start some form of YouTube career. 

He’s cleaning pint glasses at the restaurant bar when Harry comes rushing through the door, almost knocking down Tina the waitress on his route to Niall. 

“I have a great idea to get you some more views on your channel!” 

“Send out another tweet? Not sure what this one is gonna do, Harry. Three days and I’ve had just about 100 views. Which is not bad, but it’s not great!”

“No no no no what we need to do is get you to collaborate with an already established youtube star ...” Harry stands there beaming like he’s had the best idea since the light bulb itself. 

“Umm.. do you think that’s really a good idea? I mean we’re two different styles or genres..?” Is there such a thing as genres of youtube videos? “And you don’t want to lose any followers by trying to promote your mate ya know..” It’s not that Niall doesn’t want to be in a video with Harry it’s just Harry’s a very… flamboyant character. Niall’s almost worried he won’t stand out in Harry’s videos, not able to match his ever increasing enthusiasm. 

“NONSENSE! I will not hear excuses it’s decided, you and I are doing a.. COLLABORATION!” Harry says with jazz hands looking off to the distance, and Niall just stands there looking around hoping no one’s watching. Tina’s giving some side eye...

And there he is, two hours after his shift ended wearing a novelty apron that says “where there’s a whisk, there’s a way” in Harry’s pristine kitchen. Ingredients of all sorts line the kitchen worktop, a camera on a tripod stood facing him. 

Harry walks in tying up his own apron “sex, drugs and sausage rolls”. He notices Niall’s staring. 

“You like? A fan sent it in. I get about two a week from just random people; viewers! They know I like my aprons and a good pun. The one you’re wearing is one of my originals!” 

“I feel privileged,” Niall says, not sounding nearly as sarcastic as he could. 

“Right so we’re going to be making cupcakes. I thought I’d go simple for this since it’s your first time on my channel.” 

Without much warning Harry presses the button on his camera and the red flashing light starts up. 

“Welcome to Cooking In Style with me, Harry Styles! Today I’m excited to be collaborating with a good friend of mine, Mr Niall Horan of AcousticHoran!” Niall looks from Harry to the camera and smiles. 

“And on today’s menu Salted Caramel cupcakes with the ever so elusive Swiss Meringue Buttercream!” 

“What’s so elusive about it?” Niall dares ask.

“It’s really frickin’ hard.. But that’s ok, because to get us going on our journey to buttercream heaven today.. A beverage! Now Niall what would you like to drink, we don’t have beer we only do fun drinks here! 

“Beer can be fun...” 

“No it’s boring pick something fun! If you can’t drink it with a mini umbrella it’s not fun.” 

“Gin and ginger ale?” 

“Perfect!” 

Once Harry has their drinks sorted he goes into the first step of making the cupcakes. He’s right, the cupcakes themselves are super easy, the buttercream on the other hand ... 

“Harry, I don’t think it’s meant to be this consistency..” 

“Just keep stirring till it stiffens.” 

“That’s what she said.” 

“Okay what kinda sex are you having ...” 

“Harry, the buttercream is liquid!” 

Three hours later and the kitchen's a mess, icing sugar strewn across the worktops and their faces. The cupcakes they cooked hours ago have been perfectly topped with chocolate buttercream ... that came out of a tub. And the swiss buttercream remains a liquidy mess in Harry’s food mixer. 

“Right, well, as you can see I did not manage to master the Swiss Meringue, I did however find a new favourite drink in the Gin & Ginger, thanks for that suggestion, Niall. And I have some sexy looking cupcakes and a new cooking partner for all occasions!” 

Niall’s just standing staring at Harry whilst licking the buttercream off a spoon. 

“Please remember to like, comment and subscribe if you want to see more of my master cooking! Also check out Niall’s YouTube channel AcousticHoran to learn how to play the guitar whilst getting to stare at his beautiful face.” Niall almost chokes at that but covers it with a laugh. 

“Thanks for watching! Niall say bye..” 

Niall gives a light wave and Harry walks over to turn the camera off. 

“I understand why you get so many views Harry if that’s half as much fun to watch as it was to be a part of. But I can’t believe that after 2 years you still have no fucking clue how to cook.” 

“Hey I can cook ... Just not well!” 

By the end of the next day Niall’s video has almost three thousand views and he reached his first hundred subscribers. 

***

As the weeks go on Niall starts to get the hang of filming and editing his own videos without the help of Harry. 

Their collaboration video was such a huge success that all of Harry’s viewers are asking for Niall to come back for another video. 

Niall can’t really believe how quickly things are picking up for his own channel, Harry says it’s his personality - “you have charisma!” - Niall thinks the onslaught of preteen girls suddenly interested in learning how to play guitar might have something to do with the fact he’s 22 and mildly attractive… plus “your Irish accent is soooooo cute!!” is something he’s seeing quite often in the comments section. 

***

Two months into this Youtuber business and Niall’s got about five hundred subscribers and averages a few hundred views per video. He’s not quite YouTube famous yet, but he’s growing fast! 

Harry suggests now he has a good collection of avid followers that he should do a “Q&A video” so Niall sends out a tweet asking for questions for his next video. 

“Feels weird actually doing a video without my guitar on my lap but here we are - a little Q&A with me!”

“So I sent out a tweet last week asking you to send me all your questions to get to know me, requests and such... And I’m gonna scroll through them and answer them in this video. Not all of them.. There are a couple I don’t think I feel comfortable answering haha - like the size of my.. You know.. ANYWAY moving on… first question!

“Where abouts in Ireland are you from? That’s from @KatieAnn578. Well Katie I’m from a small town called Mullingar which is in Westmeath.. It’s not far from Dublin basically. It’s not really exciting I’m afraid aha.. Umm so next question..

“Oh this is a good one! When did you start playing guitar? Well I was about 12 years old and I taught myself to play! Fun fact, I’m actually left handed but I play right handed.. Basically my first guitar was a right handed guitar and I just learnt that way.. By the time I realised, there wasn’t much point switching over haha. Ahhh anyway next question!” 

Niall’s about six or seven questions in, some asking about if he wants to be a professional musician, others are requests for songs they want him to teach and then there’s one asking if he has a girlfriend.. 

“Umm actually I don’t have a girlfriend.. Not since I was like 11! Then it was about a year later that I realised I was gay..” he almost hesitates on that last word.

“So I guess this is now a coming out video haha.. I came out to everyone I knew personally years ago but of course as every other LGBT person knows we never stop coming out.. We always have to say to people we are gay or bi or ace because they will always assume straight.” 

“Especially since I’m a gay guy who likes sports and drinks beers with the lads and isn’t the stereotype of a gay man” he uses air quotations when he says stereotype because he hates this idea that you can only be one thing to be gay, you can only act one specific way.

“But yeah I guess to answer your question properly I’m not in a relationship at the moment aha..” 

“Right moving on before we start sharing our feelings and I have to bring out the wine.. Next question! Would you ever do a collab with Liam Payne?” 

At that point his heart stops.. Liam Payne.. Niall’s had a crush on the world famous youtube star for as long as he can remember. He’s seen every video he’s posted, fawning over all of them because of his angelic voice and beautiful face. 

“Hell fucking yeah… excuse the language but if I ever got the chance to collaborate with Liam Payne you could not stop me, I LOVE Liam. I’ve actually been a fan of his channel for years! His voice is just amazing and I have all his original songs on my iPod aha.. Safe to say I fangirl over Liam! And he’s pretty fucking hot too..” He can feel his cheeks start to heat up and he realises he’s kinda starting to embarrass himself now.

“But yeah that’s unlikely because this is a dude with over nine million subscribers and probably double the fans haha.. I am just one person in a sea of Youtubers who would love to collaborate with him so I wouldn’t get my hopes up! But if it were to happen that would be pretty amazing. Right next question…”

The video ends up being twice as long as all his usual videos and he’s a bit wary about putting it up.. Almost editing out the coming out and even the Liam Payne section twice but deciding ‘fuck it - what’s the worst that could happen?!’ 

Two weeks later, it’s his most popular video, people are sharing it all over social media and his subscribers have doubled! 

Niall decides to do a cover song to celebrate one thousand subscribers, showing off a bit of his singing talents as well as his guitar skills. He does a cover of The A Team by Ed Sheeran, one of his favourite songs, and his fans - they’ve started calling themselves Niallerators - are going crazy for it. 

Niall starts to notice a lot of his twitter followers are now starting a campaign to tweet his cover video to Liam Payne - or BigPayno as he goes by on YouTube - and get him to collab with Niall. The hashtag #BigPaynoCollabWithAcousticHoran trends nationally and Niall is stunned, he cannot believe the amount of support he’s getting having only had his account for a few months. 

A day later Liam Payne follows him on twitter and Niall receives a DM in his inbox:

“Heard you were looking to collab? Let’s do this shit!”

Niall almost shat his pants. 

***

Niall took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he stood outside a tall apartment building in Canary Wharf. His hands shook with nerves as he rang the bell for flat nine and heard the buzz of the door open. As he stood in the lift going up to the top he held on tightly to his guitar at his side and tried to relax and look normal, rather than the frightened fish out of water he was right now. 

He carefully knocked on the door in front of him in the tiny, sparse corridor that lead to flats nine and ten. He waited patiently as he heard a soft “coming” from inside, words from a voice he instantly recognised. And as the door suddenly opened and he saw the smile on the face he knew so well… he almost threw up. 

“Hey Niall nice to meet you!” And with that Niall was pulled into a tight hug by someone he could easily call his idol, Mr Liam Payne. 

“Hi, nice to meet you... “ He cringed at the shakiness of his voice, repeating the mantra in his head to just ‘act normal, act normal’. 

“Come in I just made a cup of tea, you like tea right? I haven’t put any sugar in it, I’ve got a bit of sweet tooth me so I always have about three, it’s a wonder I don’t have diabetes by now!” 

Liam was talking in Niall’s ear as they walked further into the flat together but Niall was barely hearing a word of it, instead stunned by the home of someone so big, so important. It wasn’t overly decorated, a simple beige wall with a long L shaped sofa and a large flat screen TV mounted to the wall. Niall could see the camera, one that looked about ten times flashier than his own second hand one, propped up on the tripod in front of the sofa in the centre of the room. A room Niall almost knows too well from seeing it in every video of Liam’s. Niall feels almost at home here, knowing this place top to bottom more than his own rundown flat in Acton. Well he would feel at home, if he could shake the feeling of unease being around someone he can’t help but fan over. 

“Niall? Tea?” Niall realises in his bewilderment he completely forgot to respond to Liam’s question and turns to the large kitchen area (again barely comparable to Niall’s mini kitchenette) where Liam is holding a steaming mug. 

“Right yeah sorry, just a bit dazed not gonna lie haha. I’ll have two sugars please, thanks.” 

“So I know I set the camera up already but if we don’t get round to filming today it’s not a problem because we wanna rehearse this and make it tight ya know!” Liam hands him his cup and walks over to the sofa sitting down, tapping the spot next to him for Niall to approach.

_Right yes, the music, talk about the music and you won’t feel so nervous._

“Yeah of course, we can always arrange another day for filming, wanna get it perfect right?”

Liam nods with a huge smile on his face, _why is he always so smiley whilst I’m here like the deer in the headlights after it’s already been run down twice?_

“Liam, umm, I gotta ask.. Why did you decide to message me? I mean I don’t wanna boost your ego but you’re pretty famous.. And I just reached a thousand subscribers!” Niall hopes his frankness doesn’t offend, he’s always been one to say whatever pops into his head, and this question has been on his lips since that first message last week. 

Liam immediately laughs at Niall’s question.. 

“Well you don’t fuck around do you? Don’t put yourself down Niall, talent isn’t measured by subscribers! I guess I was kinda drawn to you. You’re an amazing guitar player and I think that’s evident and I noticed you don’t sing much in your videos but your most recent one, where you sung The A Team, was amazing! And I was really amazed by the dedication of your fans,” Liam laughed.

“In fact since it appears we both love Ed Sheeran, I was gonna suggest we do one of his songs for the collab?”

Niall smiled, his cheeks as red as tomatoes, embarrassingly so. 

“Fuck now I’m blushing like a fool,” Niall tries to laugh to hide his embarrassment over Liam’s comments. “Well I think those are good reasons and I too think Ed is a good idea.” 

_Why am I now talking like a robot?_

“Great, so.. Which song?”

They spent the next hour debating which song to choose, not being able to agree in the slightest. Finally they settled on ‘Sing’ which will give Liam a chance to show off a bit of his rap skills as well. 

Niall’s working on perfecting the chords whilst Liam’s on the phone ordering dominos for dinner. Niall’s almost in disbelief that he’s staying for dinner, he’s been here for hours and somehow Liam still insists on him staying. 

Niall looks up at Liam on the phone, his back to where he’s sat on the sofa. Liam’s in a thin tank top which doesn’t leave much to the imagination. It’s been making it hard for Niall to concentrate. Niall’s tried everything he can to keep his crush in check so Liam wouldn’t suspect, though if he’s seen Niall’s Q&A video he probably already blatantly knows. But alas, he didn’t want to make things awkward, and he honestly sees Liam as a friend now, a feeling he feels might be returned. 

Before Niall’s realised he’s staring at Liam’s muscular back like it’s cake, Liam hangs up the phone and turns towards Niall. Niall shakes himself out of his trance, embarrassed that he’s been caught. 

Liam just smiles at him, “Nialler, you ok?” 

_Nialler? We’re on nickname terms now.. Damn what should I call him? Do I even need to give him a nickname, Liam’s not an easy one to shorten._

“Niall?” 

“Sorry, yeah, I’m fine just been focusing too long on these chords I think I’m going into a bit of trance haha.. Thinking about that pizza we’ve got coming!” Niall replies, laughing it off and hoping that sounds like a reasonable excuse. 

“Haha yeah we’ve been at this for a while now. I think a beer break is necessary, Corona ok?” Liam smiles and turns, heading to the fridge and pulling out two bottles and taking the tops off before Niall gets a chance to respond. 

He walks back over to the sofa and hands Niall one of the beers before taking a seat next to him again. 

“I think we can chill a bit whilst we wait for the pizza. We can start up again after dinner.. I mean if you’re not bored of me by then!” Liam laughs but Niall actually senses a hint of severity to his comment, almost like Liam’s feeling as insecure as Niall about this first meeting, even though he’s been so cool and calm on the exterior. 

“Of course not! In fact I was beginning to think I might be overstaying my welcome and wondering why you haven’t kicked me out yet!” There’s that filterless mouth of his again. 

“NO! I’m quite enjoying your company, and our working together Niall, I think after this video we might have to consider making it a regular thing. Or just going out for beers without the making of a video being the reason aha.” Liam starts to blush and the more he opens up and shows his vulnerability, the more Niall’s heart flutters.

“Listen.. Niall. There was actually another reason why I wanted to collaborate with you and I hope you don’t mind me saying it.” Liam pauses as if he’s going over what he’s about to say in his head. 

Meanwhile Niall’s struggling to swallow the beer he’s just sipped as his throat closes up, nervous of the bomb Liam’s about to drop. Secretly he’s wondered if Harry managed bribe Liam into doing it. Or maybe Liam’s playing a massive prank on him. 

“Umm… I was inspired by you a bit… your open and frankness in your Q&A video…” 

“Is this because I sang your praises and talked about how big a fan I was of you, because that’s a bit egotistical of you not gonna lie.” Niall cuts in, trying to use some sarcasm to lighten the mood. The air in the room has thickened with the tension Liam’s built up with his ‘confession’. 

“Ha I’m not that bad I promise. No it was your coming out actually…” Liam finally reveals. 

Niall’s stunned by that one, not expecting that to be Liam’s reason. And as the cogs in Niall’s brain start to turn, he begins to wonder if Liam’s hiding something that Niall’s been open about his whole adult life. 

“Go on..” Niall says hoping Liam to open up to him. 

“It’s something… I’ve never been able to do…” And on that note Liam looks into Niall’s eyes, finally revealing his truth, that openness and vulnerability no longer hidden by a confident, smiley exterior.  
“I get that. I couldn’t always either.” Niall replies, hoping Liam can find some comfort knowing that Niall’s been in his position before. 

“I’m not gay, but I like guys and I’ve had girlfriends… so I guess I’m bi, which is fine with me… took me a while to be ok with that but I am now-”

“Now you’ve gotta be ok with telling people, and that means facing potential backlash..” Niall knows exactly the place Liam’s in having been there himself about seven years previously. 

Niall was fifteen when he finally said to his mum he liked guys instead of girls. He was petrified. Had no idea how she would react being from a traditional Irish Catholic family. Her response was ‘as long as you still give me grandkids I don’t care who it’s with!’ Niall had never felt so relieved. His father was a little bit quieter at the revelation. Niall thinks his dad doesn’t know himself how he feels about it but he will always say to Niall “I love you no matter what son” and Niall knows they’ll be ok anyway. 

“Yeah exactly! I mean how the hell do I get to the place you’re at now where you don’t apologise for being who you are you just, let it out, say it like it’s no big deal. It still feels like a big deal to me!” Liam almost shouted the last word, looking defeated and broken after his outburst. 

With a sigh he goes on to say “sorry Niall, we’ve literally just met and I’m confessing all my deepest secrets to you. I guess I just felt like I could because you seem so open and honest and you’re a real sound guy.”

Niall knows where he’s coming from, he remembers the day he felt comfortable enough to talk to someone about his feelings, about being different. About being gay. It was to an exchange student from England, staying in Mullingar for a year. He was the first openly out gay person Niall had ever met. It was unheard of at a catholic all-boys school but this guy didn’t care, he didn’t let that quieten him. 

First time Niall told Zayn he felt he might like guys, Zayn kissed him. Niall felt so at ease, so comfortable, like this weight had been lifted off him. It was Zayn who showed him to be who he was and not to apologise for it. It was he who taught Niall to have the confidence in his sexuality that he does now. 

Niall knows exactly how Liam’s feeling right now, and Niall knows he needs to be Liam’s Zayn. 

“Don’t apologise, that’s the first step. The moment you stop apologising for being who you are is the moment you start to feel confident, you gain back that self-esteem. And that’s how you’ll finally be able to tell anyone and everyone you come across that you’re gay… or bisexual in your case.”

“Don’t think that because you’re not straight that you’re not normal, or that people are going to look at you wrong. Nine times out of ten, they won’t. It’s that tenth time that’s the hardest but you’ll have those other nine times to fall back on. You’ll realise that that one in ten person who doesn’t like you because of your sexuality, is actually the person in the wrong and not you. Sometimes that person can be a loved one, and that’s hard… but you gotta help them, educate them, show them you’re just the same person and it doesn’t matter who you love or who you might marry one day. You’ll be ok. And it’ll get easier the more you do. First time's always the hardest…”

Liam laughs at that last point, the beer he’s drank giving him a dirty and crude mind. 

“Sorry I know you were being all serious but that’s what my first girlfriend said the first time we had sex” Liam giggles. 

“Well yeah it applies to that too I guess…” And at that both boys burst into raucous laughter.

Another two hours go by, two empty pizza boxes strewn across the floor and the guitar and chords forgotten about, Liam and Niall have been so caught up in conversation, getting to know each other. 

“Right I hate to say it but I really should head off now, all that food has made me sleepy and I have work in the morning.” Niall says with a yawn, sad to actually be going since he’s had such a good time getting to know Liam.

Since moving on from the deep stuff they’ve been chatting about their interests and Niall’s discovered they both have a love for football and whilst flicking through the channels they found a match on between Man City and Newcastle. In between outbursts of “what the fuck is that ref doing?” and “ahh man how could he miss that shot?” they started talking about family and Liam was interested to know about Niall’s life in Ireland and his reasons for moving over. 

“There’s no jobs! We’re in the middle of a massive recession and I just didn’t think I’d be able to get anything sustainable over there. Also had a bit of a dream to move to London since I was a kid, always seemed like the place to be ya know!” 

After that Niall learned that if Liam hadn’t made it in his YouTube career he would probably be working at the same factory as his father by now. Stuck in a dead end job he had no desire for. Liam let slip to Niall that he’s been trying to get signed as a recording artist for a while now. 

“It’s hard ya know? There are so many great singers on YouTube and they’re all trying to do the same thing. Hoping to be the next Justin Bieber!”

Liam was then pleased to find out they both are secretly big fans of Bieber to which Liam quipped that maybe they should do something off his new album as their next collaboration video. Niall had to hide his excitement over the idea of doing more collaborations with Liam, thinking this would just be a one off. 

As Niall got up to leave, Liam quickly pulled out his phone, “we should swap numbers, it’ll be a hell of a lot easier to organise the next meet-up than Twitter aha. I get quite a few DM’s so it’s hard to keep up.” Liam blushes thinking he now sounds big headed. 

They exchange numbers and Niall has to keep his hands from shaking as he types his own into Liam’s phone, reality has yet to catch up with him and he feels any moment he could be woken from a dream. 

Niall grabs has guitar and heads over to the front door, Liam following behind to see him out. Just as Niall is about to walk out Liam quickly grabs him and pulls him into a tight hug. Niall’s left taken aback and it takes him more than a second to reach around with his own arms and hug Liam back. 

“Thanks.. For everything.” Liam whispers into his shoulder. 

***

It’s just three days after Niall had been around Liam’s flat for hours playing music and confessing secrets. Niall’s sat in his cold dingy flat with a thick blanket thrown over his legs and a steaming cup of tea on the coffee table in the living room. He’s just got home from what felt like the longest shift working behind the bar at the restaurant and this is the first moment he’s had to check his phone. Apart from a couple texts from Harry who can’t seem to go more than an hour without contacting Niall there’s a couple spam emails and then one from YouTube telling him BigPayno has uploaded a new video. Niall watches all of Liam’s videos as soon as he can but the title on this one makes him click quicker than his thumbs can move. 

Liam’s not so subtly titled this video **'*CONFESSION*'**.

Niall’s breath is caught in his throat and he has goosebumps all over, this time not because of the cold. As he waits for the video to buffer he thinks about the last conversation he had with Liam. 

The next morning after their meet-up Liam had texted Niall frantically apologising for spilling his guts to an unsuspecting Niall and hoping he hasn’t completely freaked him out. Niall was reminded that no matter how popular or celebrated someone is they’re still human and have anxiety after confessions, just like anyone else. He had quickly replied saying he wasn’t freaked out and felt honoured he was who Liam felt comfortable enough to confide in. Since then Liam’s been very silent and they have yet to arrange their next meet-up to film their video, a thought that Niall is trying not to worry himself over. 

“Ok so this video is going to be a little different than my usual…”

Niall’s pulled out of his thoughts as the video finally starts to play out and Liam’s thick West Midlands accent sounds through the speakers of Niall’s phone.  
“I’ve been holding something in for a really long time and I’ve been too scared to tell you guys and pretty much anyone I know because I was scared of the reception I would get. Thankfully after a long conversation with someone I can now call a dear friend of mine, I can openly talk about who I am.” 

“I’m bisexual.”

And there it is. Niall’s almost in tears, filling with pride at being able to see Liam finally be free and open. It’s the first time he’s ever been there to witness someone coming out of the closet and he knows that he helped. He’s also trying not to freak out at being called a dear friend by Liam freaking Payne!

As soon as the video ends, and by that point he IS in tears, he quickly fires off a text to Liam just simply saying “proud of you :’)”.

Soon after Liam responded saying thank you for everything Niall did that night and they arranged their next meet up.

***

Niall turned up at Liam’s door two days later, he had received a text an hour earlier with the code to Liam’s apartment complex and saying to let himself in when he arrives. 

He noticed as he reached Liam’s front door that it had been left ajar and he could hear raised voices inside. 

“I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me, I’m your best friend, I would’ve supported you!” Coming from a voice he didn’t recognise. 

“It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you it’s just that you can’t relate, I’m sorry but that’s how it is. I needed to talk to someone who knew what I was going through.. I only really realised about a month ago anyway!” This time a voice he did recognise; Liam.

Niall was hesitant about walking into what sounds like a heated argument, but at the same time didn’t want to stand here like a lemming since Liam had already said he could come in. 

“I know that but.. It’s just I wanted to be there for you. And imagine me finding out via a video like that! Did your parents find out the same way?” The unfamiliar voice responded, this time softer, more defeated. 

“No I had a conversation with them the night before on the phone and they were really understanding. I warned them about the video because I didn’t know how they’d take it.. They aren’t that.. Open minded ya know” Liam replies. 

“We’re basically family, you should've told me before the video.” 

“I know that now and I’m sorry mate I just wanted to get it out there and you were away with your girlfriend.”

“I would've picked up the phone for you mate, even if I’m in the south of France!” The unfamiliar voice was rising again just as Niall taps a light knock on the door. 

He slowly walks into the apartment to see the living room empty. He quietly places his guitar down by the door as he realises the two men are in the kitchen around the corner. Niall’s about to shout a hello and walk in when Liam’s friend pipes up again.

“Who was this ‘special friend’ you were able to open up to anyway?” Niall pauses at that moment, knowing he is who Liam had mentioned in the video. At this point he felt guilty knowing Liam had confided in him, an almost stranger, over what appears to be his closest friend. 

“My friend Niall..” Liam responds hesitantly. 

“We don’t know a Niall, who the fuck is Niall?” The man really punctuated the word fuck, getting angrier at the fact he doesn’t even know the guy. 

“He’s a new friend ok? He’s another Youtuber who came out in his own video just the other week. I was inspired by it, I wanted his advice on coming out, I don’t think you’ll be able to understand that, being able to talk to someone who’s gone through what you’re going through and who can help in your own situation.” Liam is standing his ground at this point, proving to his friend that this ‘Niall’ was important in his own acceptance of himself. 

“You’re blushing?” His friend quizzes. 

“What the fuck, no I'm not.” Liam responds, a little too quickly. 

“Yes you are, do you like this guy? Is he your new boyfriend? Is that why you came out - because you’re in love?” 

Niall stands stock still, shocked. At this point he doesn’t know what to do, knowing he’s walked into a precarious situation and a private conversation, but also completely blown away at the idea - _Liam likes me? Does he likes me or is his friend reading too much into it? Am I now reading too much into it?_

At this point Niall realises he needs to back out of the flat and pretend he hasn’t just heard what he did and as he finally brings himself to move he suddenly here’s the voices getting closer. 

“Look Louis I really don’t need this right now,” Liam says as he moves to walk out of the kitchen, “Niall’s about to come over and I don’t want you saying these things once he’s here because I don’t need him feeling awkward around me knowing I may or may not - and I’m confirming it - have feelings for him -” Liam stops, eyes wide and cheeks red raw as he sees Niall standing in the doorway, his friend - Louis - behind him with an equally shocked and almost smug look on his face, trying not to laugh as he realises the situation.

“I’m guessing you’re Niall?” Louis says, a smile breaking out across his face. 

“Sorry you said to come in when I got here, I didn’t mean to intrude. Maybe I should go and we can do this another time?” Niall turns to walk out the door, picking up his guitar as he goes. 

“DON’T BE SILLY!” Liam almost screeches, his voice breaking. 

He lets out a small cough to clear his throat “I mean, ummm, you don’t need to go, we’ve got work to do… Uhh Louis this is Niall and Niall this is Louis, my best mate, but maybe not for long after this.” Liam says trying to recover from the outburst, almost going on as if it didn’t happen. He would get away with it also if it wasn’t for the ‘deer in the headlights’ look on his face. 

“On that note, I should head off. Liam this conversation is definitely not finished, I’ll come back when you’re done here,” Louis says with a wink, making Liam blush harder, if at all possible. 

Niall moves to the side to let louis pass and he hears the door behind him shut, leaving himself and Liam in the awkward tense air of his glamorous apartment. 

“Sorry about that..” Liam begins. 

“No I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have just walked in, the door was open and I didn’t know what to do with myself aha.” Niall responds.

“I’m guessing you heard all of that, should've realised after last time you’re pretty punctual aha” Liam says turning away to his increasing embarrassment, rubbing the back of his nearly fully shaven head. 

“It’s fine really, I get it. I have a friend who’s similar to Louis, always teasing me and yelling at me when I don’t tell him something. You should've heard what he said when I moved to London without telling him. Wanted it to be a surprise, he was more mad about the fact I didn’t ask for his help whilst flat hunting.” Niall says thinking back to a few months ago when he had arrived on Harry’s doorstep without a word beforehand telling him he was moving to England. 

“Yeah that sounds like something Louis would do” Liam laughs letting himself relax and perch on the sofa, Niall still standing awkwardly by the door.

“Louis wasn’t actually supposed to be here, he just got back from a trip to Nice with his girlfriend. He kinda comes and goes as he pleases…”

“Yeah again, that sounds just like Harry..” Niall laughs looking down, thinking about his best, most annoying, friend. 

“So shall we get started?” Liam suddenly brightens up and moves over to the sofa, ignoring the massive elephant in the room where he just admitted he might have feelings for Niall in front of actual Niall. 

Niall wants to approach the subject but since they’ve just moved past the awkwardness he’s hesitant to mention it, instead opting for filming a youtube video, like Liam. 

They rehearse the song together a few times, each time perfecting their harmonies, making sure they remember which verses are for who and then having Liam keep in time to Niall’s guitar. 

After take three they finally decide it’s ready to film. 

Liam sets up the camera as he had it before, when Niall had first come over, and pressed record. 

Liam starts up by introducing himself and his channel before announcing that he’s doing a collaboration with AcousticHoran after the massive (even though it wasn’t really that big) twitter campaign. 

They chatted briefly before beginning, mostly just general niceties for the camera. Niall started with the first guitar chords before Liam started singing. They hadn’t divided the song up evenly because Liam was more confident singing than Niall but Niall sang parts of the second verse and harmonised with Liam on the chorus. It was more than he ever planned to sing and he was bloody nervous singing next to someone who was so talented at it, someone he had admired for so long, but Liam’s encouragement helped. 

Somehow, considering how unprepared Niall felt and how distracted he had been all day, they managed to sing and perform the song with no mistakes whilst filming and Liam felt confident they only needed the one take on it. Niall went by Liam’s judgement since he was more experienced on it. 

Once they finished filming, including a couple extra retakes of the intro for Liam’s peace of mind, Niall expected to sit back and chat with Liam like they had last time but Liam was busy packing up the camera quickly. After he had stacked it up in the cupboard he keeps it in he turned to Niall.

“So umm, I’ve gotta pop out in a bit and meet some people, I’m really glad we managed to get that done quick actually aha” 

“Oh… did you want me to… I should head out then?” Niall half asked, the mood in the room had suddenly changed, Niall could sense Liam wanted him out of the flat. 

“Oh sorry I didn’t mean that to come out the way it did, but yeah I have loads to get on with tonight. But I’ll text you when I’ve edited the video and I’m going to put it out, yeah?” Liam hurried the words out awkwardly before quickly heading off into his bedroom and closing the door. 

And on that Niall was left alone in the living room of Liam’s large, open-plan, expensive apartment. No hug at the door like last time. 

Niall didn’t want to admit it but he was disappointed, after everything he had heard earlier, to now see Liam treating him like a stranger, or a colleague. 

Liam hadn’t even mentioned doing another collab, just a text to say he’s posting this one online. Niall’s left not knowing if anything more could come from this, after being told he was a close friend, and suspecting Liam’s feelings grew deeper than that. 

Niall hurriedly packed his guitar away trying to hold back the sharp sting of tears at the back of his eyes. He felt stupid for even wanting to cry but found it impossible to stop it. He was hurt. 

Niall rushed out the front door and made sure to slam it on the way out to show he was angry at Liam’s abruptness before pressing the button for the lift. It was taking so long to climb the floors to where Niall was that he walked away in a huff and ran down the stairs, all nine floors. Wanting to escape the building as soon as possible. 

He walked down the street to the tube station and got on heading to the outskirts of London, to his tiny box flat, where he can finally wallow alone in his misery. 

***

Of course Niall should’ve known the ‘alone’ part would not be possible since he had told Harry he was seeing Liam today. By the time he got back to his flat he’d noticed the black range rover on the street waiting for him. 

He wandered into his place leaving the doors open behind him so Harry could follow. He placed his guitar down by the door and walked over to the kitchen and put the kettle on, getting out two mugs and two tea bags. 

“SO HOW’D IT GO?” Harry’s got the biggest smile on his face which quickly starts to fade as he reads the expression on Niall’s. 

“That bad?” 

“No it didn’t go bad, the video is fine. Great even! It was just Liam..” Niall responds, being vague, he knows if he goes through everything he’ll probably end up in tears and feel like an idiot for it.  
“What do you mean I thought you said you and Liam got on really well and he even made the video after your chats the other week..?” Harry responds looking concerned as he sees Niall’s eyes glaze over. 

Niall stirs their teas and brings both mugs into the living room and sets them down on the IKEA coffee table in the middle, Harry swiftly joining him. Niall’s sullen expression seems to have really worried him. 

“Niall what happened?” And on that Niall spilled his guts, and his tears. 

***

Hours later Chinese takeaway pots are strewn across the coffee table and the small TV Niall borrowed again from Harry is blaring the Mancunian brogue of Paddy McGuinness on Take Me Out. Harry and Niall are sat cuddled up under a blanket with Ben & Jerry’s and beer, not bothering to look for something better to watch.

Niall was completely spent, his tears drying up an hour ago after Harry had managed to calm him down. Harry was usually the emotional one in their friendship but he managed to stay calm whilst Niall was being melodramatic. 

After replaying everything that had happened that evening, from how Liam had kind of accidentally confessed his feelings, something which brought Niall’s hopes up, thinking there could be something more between them. To his sudden change of character and the rudeness he exuded after they had finished filming. 

Harry tried to remind Niall that Liam was new to this, new to having feelings for a guy, new to being out, and that he’s maybe not handling it well. And in the meantime Niall needs to be patient and try to remain reasonable. It certainly helped calm Niall, but also shock him that Harry could come up with such excellent advice; “I can be good at it sometimes you know, had a lot of practice with people giving it to me.” 

They had settled down after ordering some food in, Harry’s treat since Niall could barely afford bread with how little he makes at the restaurant and the extortionate London rent. 

Just as they had got done shouting “NO LIKEY, NO LIGHTY” in their best Manchester accents, Niall’s phone began to buzz, odd considering it was ten o’clock at night. 

Niall scrambled to find his phone amongst the blankets and when he did his face went whiter than it already was. 

He quickly showed the screen to a curious Harry who almost screamed at him to “BLOODY ANSWER IT”. 

“Hello?” 

“Niall? Hey I’m really sorry I’m calling so late, I probably should’ve left this till morning but I couldn’t sleep.” Liam sounded breathless and strained on the phone. With the amount of videos Niall had watched of Liam, including the video where Liam’s dog died and he couldn’t help but cry on camera, he could tell from his voice that he was upset. 

“What’s wrong?” Niall’s previous upset with Liam was starting to dissipate as his concern grew. Harry was looking at him, eyes wide, the TV now muted. 

“I just can’t believe the way I behaved today… after everything with Louis earlier and what you heard I was just so embarrassed… I..” Liam was stuttering, finding it hard to say the words. Niall could tell Liam was still embarrassed and was finding it hard to have this conversation. 

“Liam it’s fine, you don’t have to continue, I get it.” Niall replied hoping he could help cut the awkwardness short. 

“No no I have to say this.. But I can’t do it on the phone, I need to speak to you. Can I come to you tomorrow?” Liam asks. 

“To me? As in my flat? As in where I live?” Niall’s voice was squeaking with nerves. He hates to admit it but he’s a little ashamed of the tiny run down flat he inhabits, especially compared to the extravagance of Liam’s city centre apartment. 

“Yes, your place, is that ok?” Liam inquires, meanwhile Harry is nodding his head at Niall mouthing ‘yes’ over and over again whilst Niall shakes his own. 

He quickly puts his hand over the mouthpiece of his phone and whispers to Harry “he can’t come here look at this dump!” 

“He won’t care, he’s not that stuck up is he? IF he wants to talk, talk to him, at least you’ll be on home ground,” Harry whispers back. 

“Niall, you there?” Niall can hear Liam’s muffled voice through his hand. 

“Yes, sorry I’m here, I just had to quickly check my work schedule. I’ll be home around seven, is that ok?” 

“Yes that’s great! I’ll see you then!” And with that the line goes dead. 

Niall’s stuck in a state of shock for a millisecond until he realises… Liam’s coming over. 

“FUCK” He shoves Harry’s legs of his own and springs off the sofa, running to the kitchen. 

“Ow what the fuck was that for,” Harry yells, following him. 

Niall’s digging under the sink trying to find every cleaning product he has, which for a twenty-two year old male in his first apartment, is unsurprisingly very little. 

“Liam’s coming over and look at this place, I have mould!” Niall screams in hysterics. 

“Yes but Febreze is not going to fix that I’m afraid...” Harry retorts, catching the bottle Niall’s just thrown at him. 

“Shut up and help me clean!” 

***

Niall’s bitten his fingernails almost down to the cuticle by the time he finishes work at 6:45pm, his boss thankfully letting him go early because he was “scaring the customers” with his panicky gaze all day. He could barely concentrate on anything he was doing that day, constantly thinking about what Liam wanted to say to him. 

On one hand it could be everything Niall’s ever wanted to hear from Liam: “I love you, will you be my everything, you’re perfect.” 

On the other hand, and the much louder voice in his head, he could turn around and say it was all just because Niall helped him come out and in a moment of confusion he thought he could have feelings for him, but actually... He doesn’t. 

And then there’s the other voice telling Niall that he misheard Liam and Louis’ conversation and actually Liam is in love with Neil from Clean Bandit, which wouldn’t be a surprise because he knows Liam’s met Clean Bandit and Neil is incredibly attractive... And also gay! And the names Neil and Niall are so easily confused. Though this one seems least likely.

Those are only three of the many different scenarios Niall’s had running through his head all day and he can’t seem to make his brain turn off, or at least turn to something he should actually be doing. He kept forgetting how to make a mojito today, with one woman getting an oddly coconut-mint tasting concoction instead. 

By the time Niall makes it back to his rundown apartment building, Liam’s already waiting at his door. 

“Hey, sorry I hope you don’t mind, the door downstairs was open.” Liam says as Niall approaches. 

“Yeah the lock down there is broken, I sent off an email to the landlord last week but he’s a dick.” Niall replies, already feeling tense since he hasn’t had the chance to shower or at least spray more deodorant on after his eight hour shift surrounded by alcohol and food.  
He quickly unlocks his front door and walks in, holding the door for Liam to follow. 

“Sorry my place is a bit of a mess, it came that way haha” Niall tries to laugh. 

“Don’t worry, it reminds me a lot of my first place. I think everyone goes through the crappy flat stage.” Liam replies. 

“You calling my home crappy?” Niall deadpans, his face completely serious, mock-offended. 

Liam stutters looking scared that he’s just deeply offended Niall, not knowing what to say. 

“I’m kidding it’s a shithole.” Niall laughs. 

Liam breathes out a sigh of relief and laughs with him, “fuck you had me worried then, you should be an actor too.” 

“Ha good one, I’ll be the next Benedict Cucumber!” 

“Cumberbatch..” 

“Is that not what I said?” 

They both fall into hysterics then, but as the laughter starts to subside a tense air is left behind as they both sense the giant elephant in the room. 

“Tea?” Niall asks, because tea makes everything better. 

“Yeah please!” 

“Cool, I’ll stick the kettle on. Take a seat, if you dare… promise the sofa is cleaner than it looks.” Niall rushes past Liam to the kitchen, glad to be out of the awkward gaze they were exchanging. He puts on the kettle and makes Liam’s tea just how he likes. Funny how they haven’t been friends for long but Niall seems to know so much about him already. 

“Niall..” 

Niall jumps not expecting the man he left in his living room to suddenly be standing behind him, and incredibly close at that.

“Shit you scared me..” 

“Niall... I can’t sit in there and mull over my words anymore, I’ve been doing it for twenty four hours already. I need to get something off my chest, explain myself for yesterday.” 

Niall’s breath stops, he’d hate to admit it but he’s terrified of the words about to come out of Liam’s mouth. He’s never been good with rejection. 

“Niall I..”

“Liam it’s ok you don’t have to say it..”

“I like you.”

“Wait, what?”

Niall stares into Liam’s eyes, both holding the others gaze like an intense game of chicken to see who will blink first. 

Niall loses, closing his eyes and shaking his head, trying to wake himself up from this dream. 

“You what?”

“I… like you. Well I mean obviously I like you we’ve hung out, we’re friends.. I just mean more than friends, I like you, not… tectonically?”

“Platonically?“

“Yeah that.. Or not that… the opposite of that.. Or well I think the opposite of that would be hate and I definitely don’t hate you, opposite of that! Well actually opposite of that would be love and I.. well I’m not there yet, bit soon for that, but I mean I could love y…”

Niall stops Liam mid-ramble by lunging forward and pushing his lips against Liam’s, it’s sloppy and messy and Niall kinda aimed too low and sorta caught his chin and bottom lip but he did it, like a sudden urge had come over him. 

Niall pulls away, his heart pounding in his chest, terrified that maybe he took it a step too far, misread Liam’s advances, should’ve waited… 

“Yeah that… that’s what I meant.” Liam smiles at Niall’s gawpy face, easing his worries by reaffirming his actions. 

“Sorry, you just seem to have a tendency to ramble and it felt like the best way to shut you up,” Niall giggles. 

“In future you are welcome to always stop my rambles with a kiss,” Liam laughs back. 

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

And this time it's Liam who initiates the kiss, and it’s not messy or sloppy, Liam catches his lips perfectly, the two fitting together and no chins involved.

“Just like that…” Liam says, his lips grazing against Niall’s as he speaks. 

***

“We should do another video.”

Niall’s curled up against Liam on the sofa, the TV murmuring in front of them playing Finding Nemo, the only thing the two could agree on since Niall can’t stand superhero films and Liam refused to watch a horror. 

“Umm Liam dear, you haven’t even uploaded the first one…” Niall replied. 

“Oh shit yeah!” Liam quickly pushes Niall off him and runs round the sofa to his backpack. 

“Umm ow?”

“Sorry,” Liam pulls his laptop out of the bag and circles back around the sofa to sit beside a disturbed Niall. 

“I just remembered I meant to upload it before I left but I was too busy freaking out about what I was going to say to you.”

“You spent all that time worrying and yet the words coming out of your mouth were still a mess,” Niall curls into Liam’s side and Liam opens his laptop and starts searching for the video. 

“Ok ok… I’m maybe not as good with words unless they’re lyrics.” Liam pulls up YouTube and begins to upload the video. 

“So this is it…” Niall braces himself, scared of the public reaction to their collaboration, scared how Liam’s fans will react to an unknown Niall. 

“Prepare for your twitter to go mental… hope you’ve turned off your notifications.” And on that note Niall’s phone starts buzzing with an onslaught of followers, mentions and messages from Liam’s fanbase. 

“I daren’t look at any.” 

“Don’t be silly, they’ll love you… they’ll fall for your charm just like me.” Liam kisses the top of Niall’s head. Niall’s worked out that Liam seems to have a thing with hair, or just his hair maybe. 

“Right so a second video then?”

“Yeah yeah! This time I’m thinking “Boyfriend” by Justin Bieber and we can announce our relationship.” Liam winks at Niall as he says it. 

“Hope to god that you’re joking, that is so cheesy I might have to dump you before we’re even a thing…”

“Yeah that’s not exactly my favourite Bieb’s song.. But definitely another collab, I like singing with you. I was actually thinking.. Maybe we could… write our own song?”

An hour late the two are sat opposite each other on the floor next to the coffee table. Niall is strumming away at his guitar, working on some chords, trying to find a pattern that’ll work. Liam opposite him is scribbling in a notepad, most of the lyrics have been crossed out and rewritten.

“This isn’t working…” 

Niall looks up from his guitar to see Liam’s head in his hands breathing deeply. 

“Hey don’t get yourself in a state, we’ll get something together, even if it takes a few months!” Niall replies, getting up and stretching out his stiff legs. He wanders over to Liam’s side of the table and kneels down to peer at the notepad, and rubs Liam’s shoulders. 

“Better than words?” He read off the paper. 

“Yeah I had this silly idea about writing a song where the lyrics are song titles about love, but I’m finding it hard to think of any. My mind’s gone blank.”

“More than a feeling…” 

“Great song Niall but I don’t see how that’ll help.”

“No listen,” Niall grabs the pen and starts writing, “better than words, more than a feeling… And here you’ve already got crazy in love written, put that there, now we just need something that rhymes with feeling…”

“Dancing on the ceiling?” Liam jokes. 

“No don’t laugh, that fits perfectly!” Niall writes it down. 

As the two put their heads together they start to build a song out of song titles that is both light-hearted and sweet. 

“Romantic.. “

“What can I say, I was inspired,” Liam smiles coyly. 

“Have no idea why,” Niall winks. 

“Hey… what’s your favourite food?”

“I like Italian, Pasta, Pizza, Calzones..” Niall replies. 

“I wanna take you on a date!” Liam almost shouts. 

“Literally just order me a dominos and I’m a happy man!”

“That’s not romantic!” Liam gives Niall a light slap on the arm. 

***

It takes them a month, two of Niall’s guitar strings, and probably a whole tree's worth of paper before their song is done. 

During that time the ‘Niam’ shippers, as they’ve started to call themselves on twitter, have started to suspect there is something more to Niall and Liam’s ‘friendship’. 

The first collaboration video went viral, reaching even Ed Sheeran himself who tweeted the boys, and Niall almost fainted. 

Now all that is left is to record the video for their new song, and Niall doesn’t know, but Liam plans to tell the world all about his first ever boyfriend.


End file.
